Supreme Court Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

SCOTUS justices rule in favor of gay rights.

Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex? Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state? That was the question that lingered at the Supreme Court for the last two months. And now, in a 5-4 decision, the Justices have declared that, yes, the Fourteenth Amendment most certainly does recognize that. As of June 26, 2015, same-sex marriage is legal in the United States.

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"The right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of the person," read the Justices' ruling. "And under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment couples of the same-sex may not be deprived of that right and that liberty."

Justice Kennedy summoned tidal forces in his final remarks on the case:

No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people be- come something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization's oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.

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Upon the announcement, the President took to Twitter to congratulate the SCOTUS decision:

Today is a big step in our march toward equality. Gay and lesbian couples now have the right to marry, just like anyone else. #LoveWins

This past April, Justices heard oral arguments for Obergefell v. Hodges, the case that prompted the historic decision. In 2013, the plaintiff, Jim Obergefell, and his partner John decided to get married. John was in hospice care. They had been together for 20 years. It was not an issue of finances or health care—they just wanted to tie the knot. So they flew to Baltimore. When the couple returned to their home in Cincinnati, Obergefell was told the marriage was null. Ohio did not recognize same-sex unions. Reading the story in a local paper, civil rights attorney Al Gerhardstein, and later, the ACLU, took on Obergefell's case. Three months after the court proceedings began, John passed away. Obergefell kept fighting. And here we are.

The decision is denouement in the fight for marriage equality. In 2000, Vermont became the first state in the United States to give full marriage rights to same-sex couples (27 years after Maryland became the first state to flat out ban it). Other states followed, enough of a shift to put Bill Clinton's Defense Of Marriage Act under Supreme Court scrutiny. In 2013, Section 3 of the Act was ruled unconstitutional and repealed. Obergefell v. Hodges revived the issue, with an aim to clear gay couples' lives of any remaining blockades. Worth noting: many of the 2016 Presidential candidates oppose same-sex marriage.

America's flexible legal system should afford combatants the chance to fight the Supreme Court decision, but for now, the ruling stands: the Constitution protects everyone.